21 May was another good day on track for Formula 1 World Champions, starting with Juan Manuel Fangio picked his way through an eight-car pileup caused by waves in the Monte Carlo harbour
The Argentinian thus won the first of his 24 Formula 1 Grand Prix victories driving an Alfa Romeo 158 1950. Teammate Giuseppe Farina was a lap behind ahead of second-placed José Froilán González’ Maserati.
Some years later, Mario Andretti won the 1978 Belgian Grand Prix in Lotus’ brand new 79 wing car. Teammate Ronnie Peterson was second in an older 78, with Carlos Reutemann’s Ferrari third. Michael Schumacher won a dry-wet-dry 2000 Grand Prix of Europe following an intriguing tactical fight with Mika Häkkinen’s McLaren with David Coulthard third in the other McLaren.
Looking further back in race history, Emilio Materassi’s Itala Hispano-Suiza won the 1925 Circuito del Savio, Achille Varzi steered his Bugatti 54 to win the 1933 Berlin Avusrennen,
Philippe Etancelin took the 1933 GP de Picardie in his Alfa-Romeo 8C-2300 and Hermann Lang’s Mercedes-Benz W154/39 won the 1939 ADAC Nürburgring Eifelrennen
A year before his Monaco win, Juan Manuel Fangio took the 1949 Marseille GP at Prado in a Simca-Gordini T15 and in other non-championship F1 action, Mike Parkes won the 1967 Gran Premio di Siracusa in a Ferrari 312, the same day that Greg Cusack’s Brabham Repco took the 1967 Aussie Surfers Paradise Tasman round, while Sebastien Bourdais won 2006 Champcar Grand Prix of Monterrey and Sebastien Buemi the 2016 Berlin ePrix.
Moving on toe sportscars, Arturo Merzario and Sandro Munari’s Ferrari 312PB won the 1972 Targa Florio, Bob Wollek and Frank Jelinski’s Porsche 962C the 1989 Dijon WEC round , while Mauro Baldi and Fermin Velez Ferrari 333SP won in Halifax, Canada in ’95. Andy Wallace and Milka Duno took the 2005 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant in a Pontiac Crawford and Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard’s Porsche RS Spyder ALMS Mid-Ohio 2006.
On the World Rally stages Sebastien Loeb took his Citroen Xsara to Sardinia victory in 200 and Sebastien Ogier’s Ford Fiesta RS won in Portugal 2016. There were a few records broken on this day too – Barney Oldfield, drove a Hudson Super in a 75 mph 13 hour 8 minute non-stop 1000 mile stock car record at Culver City California in 1927, while Warren Johnson made the first 195 mph NHRA Pro Stock quarter-mile pass at Englishtown, New Jersey 1993.
1933 was a tough day in racing – Otto Merz died in crash at Germany’s Avusrennen within hours of Bouriat’s fatal accident in the Picardie Grand Prix.
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